A new Department of State policy will no longer recognize same-sex partnerships of diplomats and United Nations officials, according to an internal policy brief shared among UN staff.

The September 13 letter from The Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management at the United Nations lays out the new policy, explaining that the State Department is imposing new rules based on the Supreme Court’s recognition of same-sex marriage. But the newly strict adherence to the Obergefell ruling is odd, considering that the case legalized marriage equality in 2015.

And as LGBTQ+ advocates point out, the policy may put diplomats in an impossible position, since many hail from nations in which same-sex marriage — and often homosexuality itself — is illegal.

Lucas Acosta, the LGBTQ+ media director at the Democratic National Committee (DNC), said in a statement that the new policy is an example of the Trump administration “doing everything in its power to roll back progress and make it harder for LGBTQ people to serve their countries.”

“This policy could separate families and force individuals to choose between their careers and their loved ones,” says Maria Sjodin, the deputy executive director at LGBTQ+ advocacy group Outright International. “The US should stand up for LGBTIQ people even when other countries do not. This is not just a seemingly random policy, it is an attack on LGBTIQ rights and the multilateral system at the same time."

Diplomats and United Nations officials in same-sex couples who wish to keep U.S. visas, or are in the process of acquiring them, must show proof of marriage by December 31. If they fail to do so, partners of diplomats and officials will “be expected to leave the United States within 30 days unless they submit the required proof of marriage or have obtained separate authorization to remain in the country through a change of non-immigrant status.”

In a phone call with reporters on Tuesday, State Department officials said that the new policy was initiated this July, with the intent of recognizing that same-sex marriage is legal in the United States. “It’s not meant as an attack and it’s not meant to be punitive,” said an official on the call. It remains unclear why the department is choosing to impose marriage as a requirement for same-sex couples over three years after the Supreme Court ruling.

The State Department said that about 105 families with diplomatic status will be immediately affected by the change. Of those, around 55 are “with international organizations.”

During the call, them. asked whether the policy would apply only to State Department and United Nations diplomats, or whether officials with other government agencies could also be affected. The response was that the policy applies to “all various types of foreign government and designated international organization visas.”

It’s unclear how marriage on U.S. soil — or other countries where diplomats are stationed — would impact the safety of employees back in their home countries. But State Department officials said during Tuesday’s call that the policy’s intent is to ensure reciprocity for same-sex couples stationed overseas, and that the department has alternative measures planned to get diplomatic visas to same-sex partners of officials that, for whatever reason, cannot legally marry.

In a somewhat circular response to a them. question about those measures, the State Department official said that visas would be granted to a domestic partner if the diplomat is stationed in a country where same-sex marriage is illegal, as long as that country recognizes “the rights and privileges of our diplomatic same-sex partners.”

In a tweet posted September 28, before the UN policy document was shared with the media, former UN Ambassador Samantha Power called the new policy “needlessly cruel & bigoted.”

The policy change comes just a few months after them. broke a story about transgender women saying the State Department was retroactively revoking the gender change on their passports — asking for elaborate proof of gender transition as much as 20 years after initially granting a passport.

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The policy affecting same-sex couples is also a bit of a surprise after the State Department issued a formal apology in January 2017 for decades of discrimination against LGBTQ+ employees and diplomats — known as the “Lavender Scare.”

"These actions were wrong then, just as they would be wrong today," Kerry said at the time. "On behalf of the Department, I apologize to those who were impacted by the practices of the past and reaffirm the Department’s steadfast commitment to diversity and inclusion for all our employees, including members of the LGBTI community."

Less than a month later, the apology disappeared from the State Department website when President Trump took office.

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